The victim of a crash at the corner of Bellwood Dr. and Tyler Ave. is loaded… (Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press )

November 03, 2013|By Ryan Murphy, rmurphy@dailypress.com

A 5-month-old boy who was one of two who were injured in a single-vehicle accident in Newport News Saturday afternoon was not restrained in a child safety seat, a police spokeswoman said.

Police had not filed any charges in the case as of Monday afternoon, but the investigating officer would be discussing the matter with the commonwealth’s attorney, Newport News Police Department spokeswoman Holly McPherson said in an email. Officials also contacted Child Protective Services.

The female driver told police she was turning onto Bellwood Road from Tyler Avenue shortly before 4 p.m. when she accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake and ran her vehicle into a tree, according to Newport News Police spokeswoman Holly McPherson.

The woman received serious lower-extremity injuries and was transported to Riverside Regional Medical Center, McPherson said. The 5-month-old was airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital by Nightingale with serious injuries. Newport News Fire Battalion Chief Robert Lee said the child was transported in stable condition. But according to Holly McPherson, a spokeswoman for Newport News police, as of Saturday evening the infant was in critical condition.

An adult male passenger received minor cuts to his face and was not transported to the hospital.

The department's crash reconstruction team will be analyzing the accident. McPherson said it does not appear that the infant was properly restrained.

One witness, Michelle Reaves, said she heard the impact and turned to look out the window of her apartment on Bellwood Road, across the street from where the Saturn Vue SUV had crashed.

Reaves said she saw a man climb from the driver's seat to the passenger side and get out of the vehicle. The man then went to the back of the SUV, opened the rear cargo-area door and picked up the child. She said the man wrapped the boy in a blanket and began walking quickly down the street.

"He didn't even look back. He didn't stop and see if she (the driver) was all right," Reaves said, noting that she and her husband didn't even realize there was anyone else in the SUV since the man looked like he had gotten out from the driver's seat and walked away from the car.

Staff writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this story. Murphy can be reached by phone at 757-247-4760.